Life Expectancy Falls In Pockets of U.S.

By Sarah Rubenstein

Not everybody is living longer.

Sure, most Americans’ life expectancy has increased in recent years, but there have been declines in some regions of the country, especially for women. The drops took place primarily in Appalachia, the Deep South and stretches of the Mississippi River basin, Harvard University researchers found.

Race and poverty weren’t entirely to blame, said the study’s lead author, Majid Ezzati, according to USA Today. The study was published online in the current issue of the journal PLoS Medicine. (See the animation from the study at right–greener equals longer life expectancy.)

Big factors were an increase in diabetes, cancers and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diseases often caused and exacerbated by smoking and obesity, the newspaper notes. Many areas with the worst showings saw income gains during the time that life expectancies fell, the WSJ says.

The WSJ offers some illustrative statistics from the study:

Women nationally saw life expectancy rise by 1.28 years from 1983 to 1999, to about 79.6 years. But women in southwestern Virginia’s Pulaski County, for example, saw life expectancy decline by 5.8 years, to about 78 years.

Men nationally saw life expectancy rise 3.1 years to 74.1 years, but in Danville, Va., life expectancy fell 2.5 years, to 68.5.

Comments (5 of 13)

There's a web site called BlueZone which has a quiz to estimate health and life expectancy. I'm nearing 80; it says my life expectancy is 96. I then took the quiz as I was at 45 -- lots of exercise, appropriate weight, married, college degree, non-smoker, middle-class income -- and it again said my life expectancy was 96. Then I took it as someone might be at 45 -- high school grad., 40 lbs. heavier, sedentary, divorced, smoker, unhappy, lots of junk food and sweets, hypertension, diabetes -- and life expectancy dropped to 53. We need more than better health care, we need better self care.

1:41 pm April 30, 2008

JLouise wrote :

Many of us save for retirement but don't invest in our own health.
True, access to affordable health care is critical but self-care is even more important. Aside from family genetics, the 3 biggest risk factors for cardiovascular disease (and spillover to other diseases) are:

1. Smoking
2. Fattening foods
3. Lack of exercise

Period.

Smoking and drinking killed my mother, my aunts and my uncle. Mom had amazing access to health care but had she not smoked she'd still be alive and have passed the average female life expectancy.

This is a no-brainer.

12:50 pm April 26, 2008

NOSOFAST wrote :

Coastal SC - people here often die in they late 50's n early 60's - rich n poor alike. Who are "You" a Baby Boomer I would guess. Here you have "McCain" ready to cut the taxes more on the rich n very rich and pay for it by cutting back on "entitlements" (Code word for Your Soc Sec n Medicare benefits)n move your full retirement date up to 70 too.

I've been retired 12yrs and I always thought somehow the Gov't was going to S*** the Boomers out of their benefits. Don't "let" them do it.

Socialism doesn't work. Do you think people are going to stop smoking and eating too much because the government takes over the healthcare industry and funnels buckets of money seized from taxpayers?

11:29 pm April 24, 2008

Xeno77777 wrote :

A Well Funded Medicaid/Medicare Government Payee Health Care System, is the World's Most Efficient; Unfor- tunately, America's Social Darwinist Rich declare War on the rest of us, each year, regard Rich Selves as Spartans; the Rest of US as their Helots; so they lie and deny the truth; the benefits of Government Payee Health Care; the Rich installed John Dewey's System of Education, to unfit students for graduate schools of mathematics, science, engineering; foreign students get most such positions; Due to Dewey, Old are mentally incapactated from teaching selves new careers or new ideas or seeing thru political liars and lies, Republicans are Lying Rich's favorite party; tho Rich have many sycophants amongst democrats. Young Folks are more perceptive than Old Folks; as in Florida + Pennsylvania; more easily deceived, can't learn from experience; only learn love for favorite deception- prisons; as caged lions loves their cage- prisons; due to Dewey; Old Folks are Un-educatable; so will shorten own lives; Ethics are Politic's subdivision; LBJ's Law stops Preacher's true comments on politics; Lying Republicans promised Repeal; never intended to keep promise; Public thus deprived of their Preacher's True Protective Warnings; Write all candidates on Issue.